Mass Aliens
by Dr Death DST
Summary: Ashley Williams is charged with salvaging an Alliance vessel that has mysteriously gone dark. Inside she must fight for survival against one of most terrifying enemies she has yet faced. Takes place between ME1 and ME2. Also a dash of femslash.
1. Chapter 1

Kaiden Alenko sprinted from his hiding spot under a hail of gun fire. The geth were all around him, closing in. Racing towards the edge of the AA guns platform he could see the Normandy leaving the planet. Fruitlessly Kaiden waved his arms screaming, "Shepard! Ashley! Don't leave me behind!"

Just as an explosion ripped him apart Ashley sprung from her bunk sitting upright. Panting and sweating heavily she rubbed the temples of her head. All the while murmuring to herself repeatedly, "It's just a dream."

"Are you okay?" asked a concerned asari through the darkness.

Slowly Ashley began to realize where she was. The incident on Virmire happened nearly a year ago. Kaiden was dead. Left behind to die because of her love for Shepard. No matter how Shepard tried to rationalize it Ashley knew better. In any case it doesn't matter because he was dead too.

Now Ashley found herself aboard a frigate named the Isandlwana. Tasked with recovering the cruiser Madison which went dark in a remote region inside the Voyager Cluster. The cruiser had picked up an unidentified organism when it started it's journey back. The Madison's mission was classified so nothing more than an anonymous distress signal was sent.

"Yeah I'm okay," Ashley finally responded then swung her legs over the side of the bunk resting her feet on the icy steel floor. "Have we reached our destination?"

"Just a couple hours away," answered the asari, "I was about to wake up the team."

The room slowly came into focus. Ten identical beds lined the walls. The other two members of her team lay sound asleep. A few other bunks were occupied by the Isandlwana's crew members. Small running lights helped to illuminate the room without keeping the crew awake.

"Let them sleep a little longer. I doubt we'll find anything to get excited about," yawned Ashley. Getting up, she went to the locker at the end of the bunk to retrieve her uniform.

"I'm not that tired. Do you want to get breakfast with me?" asked the asari taking her clothes out of her own locker as well.

"What was your name again?" Ashley had only met the asari the day before.

"Alenia," she smiled. Like most asari she had light blue skin with dark eyes inherited from a krogan father.

"I remember now, you're the scientist," said Ashley while zipping up the standard Alliance blue uniform. Even when she served on the Normandy everyone had to wear the snug shirt and pants.

"And you're the famous Ashley Williams," Alenia said cheerfully. Despite technically being a civilian she too had to wear an Alliance uniform while aboard. Her eyes wandered over Ashley's body. As an asari she preferred human women, who resembled asari, but without the pure blood stigma.

"You're not going to ask for my autograph are you?" Ashley smirked as she finished dressing. Leaving the room Alenia walked along with her.

"No no," said Alenia with a laugh, "I just remember seeing your face on the news vids quite a bit when everything went down on the Citadel."

"Yeah, that was me," sighed Ashley. The resulting semi-fame from defeating Saren was getting old. After Shepard's death, the galaxy's attention turned to her.

The mess-hall is directly connected to the crew quarters making it a very short walk. The cook snapped off a quick salute before handing her a tray of what passed for food on starships.

Sitting down at the long rectangular table Ashley grimaced at the synthetic eggs, ham, and toast. A cup labeled only as 'nutrition drink' accompanied the tray as well. A video she saw on the extranet explained how military meals were grown in labs to incorporate all of the human body's essential needs. It also explained why everyone is in great shape despite the stagnate lifestyle among spacers.

"I love traveling on human vessels. I don't have to worry about eating something that might kill me," laughed Alenia biting into a corner of toast then spoke with her mouth full, "I did a study on a krogan vessel once."

"How did that turn out?" Ashley felt annoyed by the Alliance's asari guest but she decided to at least make small talk.

"Terrible. Nothing gets the blood flowing like being stuck in a small space with a bunch of aggressive males," Alenia continued eating as she spoke, "Didn't you serve with a krogan on the Normandy?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Ashley became surprised since most of the reports on the Normandy were highly classified.

"Being a top researcher for the Alliance has it's priviledges. I usually do a background check on everyone I work with," grinned Alenia bumping Ashley with her elbow playfully.

"I'm here to do a mission, not chat about my time on the Normandy," said Ashley scooting a few inches away from Alenia.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to offend you," the smile disappeared from Alenia's face, "I've been told I come on a little strong."

"Forget about it," said Ashley picking at her bland eggs, "So what exactly are you doing here?"

"I actually work for ExoGeni. The Alliance hired me to be an advisor on situations like this. Whatever organism the Madison picked up I'll be the one to identify it," explained Alenia.

"Do you think the organism is responsible for the Madison's shut down?" Ashley started drinking the 'nutrition drink' trying to ignore the chalk like taste. The fact that Alenia is employed by ExoGeni did bother her a little considering the company's actions on Nodacrux.

"It's always a possibility. I honestly don't have a clue what it is. The organism could be a sentient being or an animal. I was told so little that it could be a virus. Considering my field is in zoology I doubt it's a virus," Alenia said while moving closer to Ashley recovering the few inches. She found herself hopelessly attracted to Ashley. Strong feminine humans were just her type.

"That's good," sighed Ashley finishing off the rest of her meal, "Hopefully it's just an engine failure."

"Can I ask just one personal question?" Alenia began smiling again resting her head in the palm of her hand. Her free hand lightly twirled a few strands of Ashley's hair.

"Um sure," responded Ashley defensively staring back at the flirtacious asari.

"Are you single?"

A queasy feeling hit Ashley's stomach. Sternly she answered, "I'm not into women or aliens for that matter."

"Hard to get eh?" grinned Alenia completely undeterred.

Getting up from the table Ashley said, "Don't make an issue out of this. I can have you detained on the ship."

"Okay fine Chief Williams. I'll keep my hands to myself," Alenia held her hands open in a sign of surrender.

"I have to report to the bridge. Try to stay out of trouble," Ashley turned her back to Alenia exiting the mess-hall.

/

Captain Briggs stood on the bridge monitoring his crew. The old man ran a tight ship making sure there were no slackers. The Alliance Navy's handbook was his bible. In any given situation he could recite the navy's protocol. Deep set wrinkles and a greying beard showed his age. Through-out his career he never managed to see combat which hindered him from moving up from captain. This fact left him a little bitter.

"Gunnery Chief Williams reporting for duty sir," rattled off Ashley while snapping a salute.

"At ease," said Capt Briggs. It bothered him to have an 'attached' unit aboard his ship. Ultimately he didn't have much say over Chief Williams. This is her mission. Briggs only played the part of a taxi service. Still, he appreciated that she addressed him as her superior.

"Have we learned anything new?" Ashley approached a computer screen bringing up the dossier on the Madison.

"We have the Madison on our sensors," Capt Briggs spoke with a deep raspy voice, "Just as before all attempts to communicate have failed."

"How would you like to proceed with boarding the Madison sir?" Ashley searched the Madison's schematics for a reasonable opening.

"We'll dock at the main hatch," explained Capt Briggs, "I want to secure the Madison's bridge first. Entry will be conducted via an umbilical connection. I want it done by the books Chief, search every room for whatever they picked up."

"What's the next step when we find it sir?" Ashley studied the layout of the ship. The size wasn't daunting but it was considerably bigger than the Normandy. The Madison had five decks to the Normandy's three at twice the length.

"Alenia will take it from there. I believe she has equipment for detaining the subject." Capt Briggs took his hat off rubbing the top of his balding head. "Chief Williams I do not relish the idea of ending up like the Madison. If anything goes wrong you will not be allowed back on this ship until the situation is completely under control."

"Yes sir," responded Ashley. By the tone of his voice she could tell he meant what he said.

"Go get your team ready Chief," ordered Capt Briggs, "We're nearly there."


	2. Chapter 2

The Isandlwana siddled up beside the Madison. All of the windows on the derelict ship were frosted over. A thud resonated through both ships as the Isandlwana docked via an umbilical bridge. Two drones made their way through the bridge to cut open the Madison's airlock.

Chief Williams reported to the command deck in heavy pheonix armor. The other members of her team made a final weapons check. Alenia wearing light armor, fussed over the various equipment hanging off her belt. The only weapon she carried was a pistol.

"Don't you want something else besides a pistol?" asked Ashley for the asari's lack of firepower.

"My stength lies in my biotics," said Alenia without looking up from a tracking device she was toying with, "Besides I have you to protect me."

Shaking her head Ashley turned to her team, "Okay, listen up! Keep your formation tight, I don't want anyone getting lost in there until we can get the lights on first."

"Do you think we're really going to find anything?" asked the engineer Sgt Wilcox.

"I don't know what we'll run into which is why we need to take this seriously," answered Ashley firmly.

Another marine, Pvt Giles added, "Excuse me ma'am but I've been on forty-five salvage runs and never found anything to get excited about."

"That doesn't mean squat," said Ashley, "If anyone doesn't do their job you'll be scrubbing the Madison's toilets until we make it back to the Citadel."

"Yes ma'am," both marines said at once. The asari only rolled her eyes.

The team of four filed into the airlock. Packed in tightly, everyone did a final check on the seals of their suits. In a moment they would have to travel through the vacuum of space across the umbilical bridge. An electric feeling of anticipation filled the air as the airlock depressurized. Having the full faceplate on her helmet gave Ashley a sense of claustrophobia.

"We have two hours of air unless we can activate the Madison's atmosphere," said Sgt Wilcox.

"Noted," responded Ashley just before the outer doors opened. Taking the first step, Ashley entered the bridge leaving the Isandlwana's mass effect field. Zero gravity overtook her causing her to slowly summersault through space, "Shit!"

"I've got you," Alenia's voice radioed through Ashley's helmet as she grabbed the chief by the leg, "You need to walk slower."

Righting herself Ashley let her boots lock onto the magnetic part of the bridge. A bout of laughter from the two marines caused her to flush with embarrassment, "Cut the chatter!"

Proceeding along more carefully Ashley gawked at the vast void of space all around them. For a moment she thought of the terror Shepard must have felt after getting spaced.

Twenty yards ahead she could see the bots finishing off the Madison's exterior airlock door. For security reasons it wasn't possible to hack the outer door. The cruiser appeared massive compared to the frigate. Against the expanse of space the ship had a forboding aura around it.

"We reached the hull," radioed Ashley back to the bridge of the Isandlwana.

"Good, keep us informed," responded Capt Briggs watching from a large port window.

The bots floated out of the way carrying away the slender piece of steel they had cut out. Ashley approached the hole carefully stepping into the airlock one leg at a time. The interior door was sealed tight as expected. They piled into the airlock allowing the bots to seal them inside. This way the Madison wouldn't lose pressure after opening the interior.

"Sgt Wilcox, get that door open," ordered Ashley.

The sergeant moved forward taking apart the console to hack the door open. Connecting his omni-tool to the switchboard he discovered a small amount of auxilery power was available. The door lock was an old style security system. Slapping a small amount of omni-gel on the circuits caused the door to swoosh open.

Inside the Madison was pitch black save for some dim emergency lighting on the floor. The atmosphere inside had been chilled by the absolute zero temperature of space. Goosebumps spread across Ashley's body causing her to turn up the heating unit on her suit. Following protocol she motioned Giles, the point man, into the corridor.

"Nothing ma'am," he said while looking down each direction.

"Keep moving," Ashley took the lead heading to the left. After passing through a section containing a series of computer stations they reached the Madison's bridge. Automated lights blinked on and off across the controls. No physical evidence indicated anything had gone awry.

"Maybe they scuttled the ship," whispered Wilcox. He sat down at the main computer attempting to reboot the ship.

"Try to find out." Ashley turned away activating the radio channel to the Isandlwana. "Captain, we reached the bridge. So far we've found nothing."

Crackling back through the radio the captain said, "Continue your search through the lower decks."

"Roger that," said Ashley. Placing a hand on Wilcox's shoulder she ordered, "I want you to stay here and try to get the power back on."

"Looks like the ship's atmosphere is intact. Oxygen levels are normal. So it's very possible the crew is still alive on the ship somewhere." Wilcox never took his eyes off the screen as he continued to check the status of the vessel. "I should have the power up and running in a few minutes."

"Good work." Ashley removed her helmet taking a breath of stale air. Giles and Alenia did the same.

Leaving Wilcox, the trio proceeded towards the back of deck one. With the main power out they had to rely on their own flashlights. The ship's narrow corridors, steel beams, and posts cast a multitude of shifting shadows. Not a sound could be heard outside of their own footsteps and breathing.

A short distance further the ship opened up into the Combat Information Center (CIC). The majority of the top deck consisted of large open rooms making for an easy search. Going through the conference room and private officers's quarters turned up nothing. After finishing the search they met in the CIC.

"Not a goddam thing," said Pvt Giles.

"Find a hatch so we can check out the next deck." Ashley paced around wondering what might be going on.

"Like I said, they probably abandoned ship." Pvt Giles set his weapon into its slot on his back.

"Then you can be first to go down," said Ashley slapping him on the back.

"Damn it," whispered Giles. "Can't we take the elevator?"

"How do you expect it to work? The power's out," Alenia smirked, "I think I see the hatch over here."

Alenia went over to a panel near a computer station at the back of the CIC. Popping the panel open revealed an emergency ladder to the lower deck. A faint hissing noise could be heard for a moment.

"What the hell was that?" asked Giles.

"Probably some leaking pipes," said Ashley taking a quick look down the dark shaft, "Quit wasting time, get down there."

Giles entered the shaft muttering under his breath. It was barely big enough for a human to move down the ladder. Luckily there were no krogans on their team. A faint orange light outlined the hatch for deck two. Moving down to that level he kicked it open. The hatch hit the deck making a loud metallic clanging noise. Again the hissing sound seemed to rise up from the bowels of the ship.

Giles muttered, "What the fuck is that?"

"Are you alright?" asked Ashley peering down at the top of Giles' head.

"Yes ma'am, just waiting on you," he shouted back up the shaft before entering the second deck.

"After you," said Alenia checking her motion sensor.

"Don't tell me you're scared," said Ashley before taking hold of the ladder.

The asari didn't answer. They moved down into the next deck. The trio settled in a wide corridor running down the center of the ship. This deck housed crew considerations. The corridor branched off into four directions.

"How do you want to do this?" asked Giles taking out his assault rifle.

"You can stay here so we don't forget where we came in," said Ashley looking down the cross section.

"I'm getting movement on my sensor," said Alenia moving over to Ashley to show her. A small red dot had appeared on a circular screen.

"I don't see anything," said Giles looking at the level five combat sensor mounted on his rifle.

"This one is more advanced than your standard sensor," said Alenia leaning close to Ashley.

"It's gone." Ashley stared into the blank monitor.

"How can that be?" asked Alenia tapping the screen.

"Heh, guess it's not so advanced after all," said Giles.

"We're wasting time," Ashley retrieved her rifle from her back holster, "Alenia why don't you wait here with Giles?"

"I'd feel safer with you," Alenia said placing a hand on the chief's shoulder.

"Looks like you've got a new best friend," laughed Giles.

"Shut up Giles. You've just awarded yourself toilet duty for the rest of the trip." Ashley glared at him before addressing the asari, "Let's move."

"Fuck'n bitch," whispered Giles finding himself completely alone by the hatch.

The corridor Ashley took led to some crew amenities. Walking along she came across a large door with the word 'gym' painted on it. Using her combat knife Ashley managed to wedge open an otherwise sliding door.

"Want some help?" Alenia didn't wait for a response. Raising a hand she forced the door open with her biotics.

"I hate not having electricity," said Ashley putting her knife away, "Thanks."

"No problem Ash," Alenia followed the chief inside the gym shining her flashlight on the weight machines.

"Please don't call me Ash," said the chief while scanning the weight room.

Ignoring Ashley's complaint Alenia kept an eye on her specialized radar, "Did the Normandy have a gym?"

"No, the ship was too small. Tiny compared to this one. We didn't even have rooms, just sleeper pods," explained Ashley continueing her search.

"I hate sleeping in pods. They're so claustrophobic and unnatural," Alenia picked up a small barbell curling it a few times just for fun, "So how do you stay in such great shape?"

"Am I the only one taking this mission seriously here?" asked Ashley putting her assault rifle away in frustration.

"C'mon Ash, the crew obviously scuttled the ship."

"Don't call me Ash."

"Why not?"

"Because it's weird coming from you. The last person to say my name like that was Shepard," Ashley sat down on a bench hanging her head, "This whole mission is a waste of time. We should be finding the bastards who killed him."

"I'm sorry chief, do you want to talk about it?" Alenia sat down next to Ashley putting a hand on her back.

"No, you wouldn't understand anyway," said Ashley stuffing her feelings.

Alenia tried to think of something to say but her sensor began beeping. A glance at the screen showed several red dots moving quickly towards the bow of the ship. "Take a look at this."

"What is it?" asked Ashley watching the dots move out of view.

"Could be survivors or an unknown organism. I can't tell what deck they're on," said Alenia tweaking a few buttons on the sensor.

Ashley opened a channel to the Madison's bridge, "Sgt Wilcox what's the status on those lights?"

A long pause followed before the sergeant's voice crackled over the comm channel, "There's an anomaly with the power grid. Only local and basic systems seem to work."

"Just keep trying," said Ashley moving back out into the corridor.

Alenia walked pass Ashley following the signal on her sensor. The red dots moved at awkward angles. They went around rooms instead of through them as though they were inside the walls. She held up her flashlight looking for the unknown organism.

"Hey wait up," called out Ashley jogging to catch up to her, "Have you found anything yet?"

"No, I'm starting to wonder if the ship's structure is playing tricks on my sensor." Alenia entered a large open room. Casting light on the surrounding area; she recognized it as the mess hall.

Ashley went ahead of her asari ally checking around the mess tables. Many of the chairs were knocked over as though everyone got up in a panic. Dark stains dotted the floor here and there. Getting closer with the light Ashley could see they were actually holes. Puzzeled by this she bent down peering into the deck below. The edges of the holes appeared to be melted. A shadowy figure raced across the floor beneath her.

"Hey I saw something!" said Ashley waving Alenia over.

"What was it?" she asked kneeling down next to the chief, "What the hell happened here?"

"I don't know what it was. About the size of a human maybe," said Ashley angling her flashlight to get a better view of the room below.

"A human? I wonder if they picked up a sentient being? Perhaps stumbled upon a new race," said Alenia with excitement.

"Out here in the Voyager cluster? Unlikely," said Ashley scratching her head. The echo of gunshots from down the corridor grabbed her attention. Putting a hand to her ear she tried to contact Giles, "Giles what's your status?"

The private yelled into his comm, "They're everywhere! We have to get the fuck out of here!"

"Sit tight, we're on our way!" Ashley started running back with Alenia to help the marine.


	3. Chapter 3

Ashley arrived at the spot where she had left Giles, but he was gone. Looking around she spotted a spent thermal clip. The walls were riddled with bullet holes. Shining the light on her rifle down each corridor, she shouted, "Giles!"

"What happened?" asked Alenia catching up to Ashley.

Ignoring her, Ashley opened the team's comm channel, "Somebody talk to me."

Nothing but static answered her question. Searching for clues Ashley noticed a few dark splotches on the floor. Upon closer examination she realized they were holes. An acrid smell eminated from them.

"Looks like something burned through the deck. Just like in the mess hall," said Alenia bending down touching the edges of one of the holes.

"I don't think those were there when we first got here," said Ashley turning toward the emergency ladder hatch, "We should try to warn Wilcox."

Reaching into the hatch to grab the ladder Ashley screamed as something latched onto her arm. Pulling back she could see a large boney hand with sharp claws digging into her suit. It tried to pull her into the shaft but Alenia grabbed Ashley around the waist keeping her from falling in.

The hand abruptly let go sending Ashley and Alenia falling backward to the floor. Dumbfounded, they looked up at the hatch as a hideous creature emerged. It's sleek elongated head stared at them with drooling jagged teeth. Opening it's mouth the creature hissed at them extending an inner mouth. Standing up like a human it whipped a twisted looking tail around ready to strike.

"What the fuck is that?" breathed Ashley keeping her rifle trained on the creature as she slowly stood up.

"I don't know," whispered Alenia not wanting to startle it by making any sudden moves.

The alien took a step towards them causing Ashley to fire a couple bursts into it's chest. Screeching the alien whipped it's tail hitting Ashley across the chest. Alenia jumped to her feet as Ashley fell to the floor again. Using her biotic powers she forced the alien against the wall. The blood oozing from it's wounds hit the ground causing it to sizzle.

"It's their blood!" said Alenia shining a light on the floor, "It's like acid."

"That's just great." Ashley got back up firing another burst into the creature's head finally killing it. Acidic blood splashed against the wall filling the corridor with smoke and a strong pungent smell.

"What now?" asked Alenia sticking close to Ashley.

"Aren't you supposed to detain it?" Ashley asked as she put her helmet back on.

"I've never heard of anything like this," said Alenia holding onto Ashley's arm.

"Get a hold of yourself," Ashley pulled away from the asari keeping both hands on her rifle, "I'm going to try to call the Isandlwana."

"Wait! Look!" Alenia pointed at a dark shadow moving over them.

Pointing the rifle's flashlight upwards revealed another alien crawling on the ceiling. It dropped down between them screeching and snapping it's jaws. Alenia screamed running down another corridor. Ashley backpedaled while firing into the persuing creature. A few quick bursts of fire sent the alien crashing to the ground.

Breathing hard, Ashley stopped for a moment to collect herself. Using the comms device she tried to raise her scattered team, "Giles, Wilcox, Alenia, is anyone alive? Answer me damn it!"

A ceiling panel popped open hitting the floor. Ashley spotted two aliens crawling out of the space above. Dropping to the ground the creatures hissed and growled at Ashley flashing their teeth.

Adrenaline filled Ashley's veins as she turned to run. The aliens' claws clicked on the floor as they chased her. The noise gave Ashley a sense of how close they were. The act of running caused the flashlight to rock wildly making her disoriented. Taking a wrong step, Ashley fell through a floor panel weakened by acid from a previous battle.

Slamming into the floor of the third deck Ashley struggled to get up. Luckily her helmet absorbed most of the impact her chin otherwise would have taken. Sitting up on her knees she tried to find the assault rifle. The fall evidently knocked out the bulb on the flashlight. Cast in total darkness Ashley felt around frantically for the weapon. She could hear the aliens crawling down into the room making threatening growls.

Realizing there was no time, Ashley pulled a grenade from her belt. Leaving it on the floor; she took off running in the darkness with one finger on the detonation button. When outside the blast radious she activated the grenade blowing apart the two creatures. Heat from the blast washed over her backside illuminating the room for a brief second.

Taking out a pistol Ashley waited silently for any more movement. After a few minutes of silence passed she turned on the omni-tool's flashlight. She would have done this earlier if not for the need to sift through a few menus to activate it. Searching the room she found her assault rifle; melted by a piece of alien flesh.

/

Alenia stopped running when she realized the aliens weren't chasing her anymore. Exogeni should have told her something this deadly had been picked up. She should have known better as the company had a reputation for sacrificing it's own. How they expected her to 'capture' them is beyond her. The equipment she brought along needless to say is less than efficent for a creature such as this. Alenia tossed aside her stun gun and tranquilizer.

The ordeal had shaken her a little. In the past decade Alenia had spent most of her time behind a desk. The occasional mission added up to nothing but tracking down a small harmless animal. This time around she hoped it had been some sort of space rat that had eaten through the wires.

"Ashley, are you there?" asked Alenia using her omni-tool.

"Where did you go?" radioed back Ashley.

"I, I ran," said Alenia feeling embarrassed by her own cowardice, "I'm back by the gym. Where are you?"

"I fell down into deck three. I'm not exactly sure where I am or how to get back up."

"Stay where you are, I'll try to find a way down," said Alenia taking a turn down a narrow hallway. She had no idea where she was going; only following her intuition.

Eventually she did find a stairwell to deck three. Carefully she descended into an open space. This part of the ship housed random boxes of cargo. Most of it appeared to be mining equipment. The flashlight cast many twisted shadows from boxes and machines. Walking through the room she found a corridor following it towards the back of the ship.

The further Alenia walked the more she felt she was being watched. Occasionally she turned around to see if any of those things were following her. Passing a few rooms Alenia began to worry if she would get lost.

A screeching noise caused Alenia to run back towards the stairs. Upon getting there she was greeted by one of the creatures crawling along the wall of the stairwell. Turning around she spotted another on the ceiling of the corridor. To her horror, a third appeared from behind a mining machine.

Pressed into action, Alenia hit the alien in the stairwell with a biotic push slamming it's head against the wall. Turning, she fired her pistol at the one behind the machine. The rounds hit the creature in the chest but did nothing to slow it down. Closing the distance between them with one leap it swiped the gun from her hand. Using singularity she caught the alien in a ball of dark matter contorting it.

The last alien jumped over it's trapped sibling pinning Alenia to the floor. It's hot sulfurous breath choked her. Opening it's mouth wide the alien prepared to smash her face in with it's inner jaws. Pressing her hand to the alien's bone like chest, she hit it with stasis. For a time the creature would be frozen in place allowing her to slip out from under it.

Taking a deep breath Alenia picked up her pistol. Putting the barrel to the forehead of the alien in stasis, she blew its brains out. A cold shiver ran over her as she registered everything that just happened. When the stasis field dissipated the alien collasped totally lifeless.

"Alenia, is that you?" asked Ashley stepping out from a corner.

"Thank the Goddess you're here," said Alenia running up to the chief hugging her tight.

"Hey, it's okay. What happened? I heard gunshots," said Ashley returning the hug. The affection made her feel awkward but under the circumstances it was understandable.

"Three of them attacked me but I killed them. How many do you think there are?"

"How should I know? I killed a few myself. There could be dozens of them," Ashley said.

"What do we do now?" asked Alenia. At that moment the lights came on.

"Wilcox must still be alive," said Ashley taking out her pistol, "We need to get back up to the bridge."


	4. Chapter 4

Ashley raced up to the bridge with Alenia to find the area empty. Pacing around she called out, "Wilcox?"

"Right here," he said crawling out from under the computer console.

"What the hell were you doing under there? I kept trying to call you," Ashley said mostly concerned with his safety.

"Have you seen those things?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Alenia spoke calmly trying to steady the sergeant, "Yes, we've killed several. Were you attacked?"

"They came out of the big air duct over there. I got one then hid under there," said Wilcox picking up his assault rifle, "Where's Giles?"

"I don't know. We lost track of him on deck two," said Ashley looking over her shoulder towards the CIC, "He could still be alive."

"I doubt that," said Alenia keeping close to Ashley.

"We have to make sure," said Ashley, "No one gets left behind."

"Then we should get more help from the Isandlwana," suggested Alenia.

"Forget it," wheezed Wilcox, "They cut communications with us when I fired my weapon. Look outside, they already retracted the umbilical bridge."

Ashley went to the window seeing nothing but empty space between the two ships, "Damn."

"How are we supposed to get back?" asked Alenia now feeling panicked herself.

"Take it easy, I'll think of something," said Ashley opening a channel to call the Isandlwana, "Capt Briggs, can you hear me? This is Chief Williams."

"I told you, they cut off communication with us," said Wilcox falling back into the cockpit chair.

"This is Capt Briggs," the captain's voice crackled over the radio, "I've been waiting to hear from you Chief."

"Sir the situation is fubar," said Ashley dropping all formalities, "We need another team to..."

"No way Chief," said Capt Briggs cutting her off, "I told you you weren't coming back until the situation is under control, not fubar."

"Sir we're going to die if you don't send help now," Ashley gritted her teeth knowing the captain would stick his word.

"Negative. You must find a way to clear the ship," he said unchanging in emotion.

"I've got an idea," said Wilcox bringing up a schematic of the ship on his omni-tool, "We could get out in an escape pod then blow up the ship."

"Sounds good to me," said Ashley, "What do you think Captain?"

"Do it," he said before shutting down the channel.

"So that's it? We blow up the ship and get out on an escape pod? How are we supposed to do that?" asked Alenia.

"Simple, we set a charge on the drive core. Setting up a chain reaction that will result in the ship explodin," said Wilcox.

"Do we have any explosives?" asked Ashley.

"No. But we should find some in the ship's armory. It's on deck three," explained Wilcox.

"What about Giles?" asked Ashley.

"We have to go through most of the ship just to get to the engine room anyway. If we can't find him by then we should just go," said Wilcox.

"We're wasting time, let's get moving," ordered Ashley leading them back down into the lower decks.

Upon reaching deck three Wilcox took the lead since he had the only assault rifle. With the lights on they could see the ship in better detail. Blood stains, acid scars, and bullet holes dotted much of the ship's interior. Half of the crew must have survived long enough to put up a good fight.

"It shouldn't be much further," said Wilcox taking a turn down another narrow hallway.

"I'm surprised we haven't run into any more of those things," said Alenia pulling up her specialized sensor. The screen remained blank as they walked.

"Maybe they're all dead," said Ashley with a hopeful smile, "Would be nice to not have to blow up the ship."

"Here it is," said Wilcox stopping at a large metal door. Immediately he went to work to hack open the door.

"Hey I'm getting something," said Alenia as her sensor began to beep showing several red dots approaching from all sides.

"I spoke too soon," said Ashley looking over Alenia's shoulder at the sensor, "Hurry up sergeant."

"I'm doing it as fast as I can," he said nearly breaking into a sweat as the hack module gave him some trouble, "It's a new model, omni-gel won't work."

"You CAN do it right?" asked Ashley pulling out her pistol to get ready.

"There's so many," said Alenia as the number of dots turned into a couple dozen.

"Hurry the hell up Wilcox," said Ashley knowing the three of them didn't stand a chance without getting into the armory.

"I'm trying damn it!" he spat while furiously tweaking the lock system.

Four aliens came running up the hallway growling and flashing their fearsome teeth. Alenia hit them with a biotic push throwing them end over end. Two more came up the opposite end. Ashley took one out with careful shots to the head. The other leaped pinning her to the ground.

"I got it!" proclaimed Wilcox as the armory door whooshed open. Seeing Ashley immobilized by an alien he reacted without thinking. Firing a few rounds from his assault rifle ripped open the alien's rib cage spilling acid down onto Ashley's chest plate.

The alien screamed rolling over whipping it's limbs around in agony. Smoke broiled up from Ashley's armor as she squirmed to get it off. Alenia grabbed the chief pulling her inside the armory. Wilcox covered them taking down another alien as it tried to attack them.

"Shit, get it off," yelled Ashley fumbling with the armor's metal clasps.

"Hold still," Alenia lay the chief flat on the floor to get a better angle on the armor.

"It's burning me!"

Alenia pulled a small utility knife from her back pocket slicing off the straps. Finally the breast plate came loose. She tossed it aside as the acid burned a sizeable hole through it. The bottom half of her undershirt had been burned away. A large red blotch formed on Ashley's torso just above the navel.

"I've got some medi-gel," Wilcox said kneeling down beside the chief. Producing a small tube from his back pocket he squeezed the clear jelly-like substance onto the wound. Next he took out a small bandage roll wrapping it around her abdomen.

"I think she's unconscious," said Alenia holding up Ashley's head, "Ash? Can you hear me?"

"She should be okay," said Wilcox. Taking Alenia's hand he placed it over the injury telling her, "I need you apply some light pressure to help the medi-gel bind with the wound."

"I got it," said Alenia putting both hands on the chief's stomach.

"While you do that I'm going to try to make the bomb," said Wilcox grabbing some grenades from a locker.

/

For a couple hours Wilcox worked on his makeshift bomb while Alenia cared for Ashley. At last the chief began to open her eyes to find a blue face staring down at her, "How bad is it?"

"Not too bad," answered Alenia, "We sealed the wound with medi-gel."

"The bomb is almost ready chief," said Wilcox putting on the finishing touches.

"Good, I want to get the hell out of here," said Ashley trying to sit up. The act of bending her torso caused sharp pain to radiate from her injury. Fighting through the pain she managed to stand up.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to help you?" asked Alenia holding her close.

"Just try to find me the top half to some pheonix armor," said Ashley leaning against a wall.

Alenia opened a couple lockers before finding a pheonix set. Bringing it over to Ashley, she said, "Let me help you put it on."

"I can do it myself," said Ashley attempting to take the armor.

"Don't be so difficult," Alenia said holding it away with a smirk.

In no mood to argue about it Ashley subjected to being dressed by the asari. Alenia tweaked the armor to be loose around the abdomen to lessen friction on the wound. She asked, "How does that feel?"

"Fine, you did a good job," said Ashley feeling awkward as Alenia stayed in close proximity. Their eyes locked for a moment prompting Ashley to ask, "What is it?"

"Nothing, just glad that you're okay," said Alenia stepping away.

"It's finished," said Wilcox presenting his crude bomb. Four grenades were wired and taped together, "All of them will go off at once with this single detonator."

"Good work," said Ashley turning towards a weapons locker, "We should load up on what we can find."

They armed themselves with assault rifles, grenades, and shotguns for backup.

"What's next?" asked Alenia.

"We need to prep the escape pod before we go," explained Ashley, "I don't want to get blown up because we're screwing around with the pod."

Wilcox brought up the ship's schematics on his omni-tool saying, "The closest pods are on deck four just below us. It's perfect since we won't have to run far to escape the blast."

"Let's move then, I'll take point," said Ashley opening the armory door.

Expecting an ambush Ashley carefully entered the corridor. Alenia and Wilcox followed closely behind. Keeping a sharp eye on every angle; they made their way to another stairwell. Entering deck four Wilcox directed them towards a passageway with a concave exterior wall.

"The controls must be around here somewhere," said Wilcox searching the wall for a panel. Finding it at the end of the passageway he began firing up the escape pods. The wall collasped downward revealing several pods. The hydraulics whined loudly as the wall lowered into a slot. A resounding popping noise rattled the ship from the mechanism.

"Every fucking alien on the ship must have heard that," said Ashley slamming a clenched fist against the opposite wall.

On cue Alenia's sensor began to pick up a dozen signals closing in fast, "Let's just get out of here."

"We can't until we destroy the ship," said Wilcox pulling out a shotgun.

Aliens began pouring in both ends of the passageway. Ashley opened fire with her assault rifle taking down a few targets. More of the creatures simply crawled over their fallen brethren. Wilcox fired as fast as his shotgun would allow. Each shot blew a decent hole through the hard shell of the creatures. Alenia did the best she could to support them both with her biotic powers.

"There's too many," said Ashley slowly falling back until she was back to back with Wilcox.

"Just keep up your fire," yelled Alenia throwing a singularity towards a group of aliens catching them in a ball of dark matter.

Wilcox killed two more aliens before his thermal clip discharged. While in the process of changing clips a third alien whipped his weapon away with it's tail. Now the creature pounced on it's helpless victim. Before Wilcox could scream the alien caved in his face with it's inner jaws.

"Damn it!" Ashley turned in time to see Wilcox die. In a fit of rage she emptied her thermal clip into the victorious creature.

"We have to leave!" Alenia hit another group of aliens with a biotic push smashing them against the hull.

"Hold on, there's just a few more," said Ashley jumping over a few sizzling bodies in an attempt to reach one end of the passageway. Her progress is stopped short when an alien popped out of an overhead vent grabbing her by the shoulders, "Help me!"

"Ashley!" Alenia ran over grabbing her by the legs. Unfortunately an approaching alien forced Alenia to let go. Too exhausted to use her biotics; she resorted to the assault rifle. A long burst of automatic fire dropped the alien. Looking up at the vent she saw Ashley was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Alenia kept staring up at the vent where Ashley had been dragged away. Now she was alone. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. Hearing more aliens approaching, she scrambled into one of the escape pods.

Repeatedly Alenia hit the 'door close' button. Finally the hatch slid down with a light clank. A small window allowed her to peer out into the hallway. Several aliens crawled by stopping now and then to examine their surroundings. Fearing being seen she ducked down behind the hatch.

Drawing her knees up, Alenia held her breath waiting for them to pass. Rocking slowly back and forth she began to cry quietly. The stress swallowed her up emotionally. Heavy use of her biotic powers during the mission left her feeling drained and hungry. An audible rumble radiated from her stomach. Reaching into a small pocket she produced an energy bar. Eating it quickly; she leaned back against the hatch closing her eyes. Before doing anything else she just needed to rest for a moment.

/

Ashley opened her eyes to darkness. A nauseous sensation caused her head to swim. Slowly her eyes began to adjust, seeing strange abstract objects within the surrounding area. Attempting to stand up she realized she was actually already upright against a wall. Something hard and sticky held her in place.

A human figure was plastered to the wall next to her. Squinting in the darkness she read 'Giles' on the uniform's name patch. Relieved to finally have found the missing marine, she whispered, "Giles, what happened to you? Where are we? Wha..."

With her eyes fully adjusted to the light she could see something attached to his face. A crab like creature held firmly onto his face with its tail wrapped around his neck. The shocking realization nearly caused her to scream. Frantically looking around she spotted an open egg sack in front of Giles. A second, unopened egg, was in front of her.

"Who... are, you?" asked a weak female voice from across the room.

"Chief Williams," answered Ashley. On the opposite wall she could see the woman stuck halfway up. "I'm part of a rescue team. Are you one of the Madison's crew?"

"Yes... you shouldn't, have... come here," said the woman before going into a violent coughing fit.

"Are you sick?" asked Ashley, "Do the creatures have some sort of disease?"

"No, it's..." the woman began wretching. Shortly after, the sound of cracking bones resounded across the room.

"Oh my God," gasped Ashley as she watched an infant alien burst through the woman's chest. Blood sprayed across the floor as her eyes rolled back. The alien screeched as it wriggled out of the corpse onto the floor.

Overcome with panic, Ashley struggled to free herself from the hard residue. Wrenching one hand free she brought up her omni-tool. Turning on the flashlight she looked around the room to see dozens of the Madison's crew. All of them had horrific contorted faces with bloody holes in their chests.

The light caught the attention of several aliens who started to crawl across the walls towards Ashley. There was no way she would be able to free herself before they reached her. Before being knocked unconscious earlier, she knew Alenia had been alive and still might be. Activating the comms device she shouted, "Alenia! Are you still on the ship? Alenia! Answer me!"

/

Alenia awoke to the sound of Ashley's voice. At first she thought she was dreaming. There was no way the chief could be alive. Yet the voice persisted. Then reality hit Alenia and she answered the call frantically, "Yes I'm here! What happened?"

"I'm trapped! You have to get me out of here!" Ashley pleaded.

"Where are you?" asked Alenia getting up on her feet.

"I don't know, I think I'm in the hangar, everything is covered with some weird substance." Ashley's signal became distorted before shutting down completely.

"Just hold on! I'm coming for you!" Alenia wasn't sure if Ashley got her last message. Looking at the clock on her omni-tool she realized that she had slept for nearly an hour.

Picking up her assault rifle with renewed purpose, Alenia opened the escape pod's hatch. Running out into the hallway, she stopped to pick up Wilcox's makeshift bomb. From there she started making her way further down. The hangar would naturally be on the lowest deck in the center of the ship.

Finding another stairwell, Alenia quickly raced down the steps nearly tripping over herself. She had no idea of exactly how to reach Ashley; knowing only to head downward. There were plenty of signs on the walls pointing her towards the hangar. That all started to change, however, once she got closer to her destination.

"What in the name of the Goddess?" murmured Alenia.

The rest of the passageway was covered in a thick black mold. It didn't look like anything she'd seen before. Sections of the mold seemed to resemble the aliens' bodies. For one of them to hide against this mold would be easy. Further in all of the lights were either broken or molded over. Turning on her flashlight, she proceeded inside. The mold even covered the floor making each step uneven. Hopefully she wouldn't have to run on it.

Moving at steady pace Alenia kept a look out for any aliens hiding in the shadows. The heat increased the closer she got to the hangar. Sweat began to bead down her forehead when something started to move along the wall. Putting the flashlight directly on the shadowy figure, she realized it was an alien. It hissed in anger and flashed its pointed teeth at Alenia. A few bursts from her assault rifle dropped the alien easily.

"Not bad," Alenia breathed; feeling more confident in her combat skills.

Just as she was about to continue; two clawed hands grabbed her arms from behind. Startled by the attacking creature, Alenia screamed in terror. Its claws dug into her arms as it clamped down on her shoulder. The alien's razor teeth punctured through the suit and into the skin. Warm blood began to ooze creating a wet patch under her armor. Agonizing pain radiated from her shoulder causing her to drop the assault rifle. Alenia clenched her jaw and managed to wrench her hand around pressing it to the alien's abdomen. A quick biotic throw sent the alien flying backward.

"Just die!" yelled Alenia. Using the 'slam' technique, she lifted the creature then sent it crashing to the ground smashing its head in.

Picking up the rifle Alenia continued on at a faster pace. Getting bogged down by these creatures in such a small space would be disasterous. Trying her best to ignore the stabbing pain in her shoulder; Alenia searched for any clues as to where she was going. A half covered sign pointed right indicating the hangar. Jogging down the corridor she saw the entrance not far ahead.

Approaching carefully, Alenia shined her light around the hangar and gasped in horror. The entire Madison crew was stuck to the walls. Each and every one of them had an expression of pain; a testament to their last moments. The gaping holes in their chests made her nausiated.

"Alenia!" cried Ashley from across the room. Only recently had she regained consciousness. The aliens had reinforced the residue to hold her in place. The sticky substance was heavily applied around her arms and neck.

"Ashley," sighed Alenia out of relief. Running over to the confined chief, she examined the material holding her in place. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know. They did this to me," explained Ashley. She struggled to free herself but made little progress. "Listen, you need to free me right now. This place is like a hatchery of some kind."

Alenia went to work pulling apart the material holding the chief in place. While doing that, she asked, "How do you know this?"

"Somehow the crew was infected or implanted by these aliens. When they're ready to hatch they burst out of the host. That's why the crew has those holes in them. I saw one hatch earlier. It was horrible," Ashley explained.

"Okay, I'll have you out in no time," said Alenia as she pulled a large piece of residue from Ashley's body. The substance made a sickening crunch noise leaving behind ropes of what looked like saliva. "This is disgusting."

"At least you're not covered in it," grumbled Ashley. Once her arms were free she helped in removing herself from the wall. After getting off of the wall she asked, "I don't suppose you brought another weapon with you?"

"Here." Alenia handed Ashley the assault rifle. "I think you'll make better use of it than me. I've got a pistol and my biotics of course."

"Thanks I... watch out!" Ashley pointed her rifle at the egg that had been located in front of her.

The top opened up like a flower. Something inside began to move. A creature slowly emerged; the same kind attached to Giles' face. Its long boney legs stretched outward over the top of the egg. Pulling itself up and over, the creature fell to the floor and began to scramble towards them. Its speed was shocking and the way it scurried resembled a large spider.

"Ewe! It's gross! Kill it, kill it!" cried Alenia, hiding behind Ashley.

Aiming down the sights Ashley tried to hit the alien but it was too fast. It darted around closing the gap between them quickly. Ashley gave up on short bursts and began to spray the floor just hoping to knick the damn thing. The creature lept into the air with its legs open wide heading for her face. In a knee-jerk reaction she brought up the rifle and fired a continuous burst. Finally, several rounds pierced the body of the alien spraying acid all over the floor.

"What the hell was that thing?" asked Alenia still cowering behind Ashley.

"You tell me, you're the scientist," said Ashley kicking at the smoldering alien corpse.

"What do we do about Giles?" asked Alenia pointing her flashlight at the trapped marine. The alien still had a firm grip on his face.

"I don't know. He probably has one of those things inside of him now. Captain Briggs would never allow us to board the Isandlwana with it attached to him," explained Ashley. Her thoughts turned to Virmire when Shepard left Kaiden behind to die to save the mission. This was one of those moments. "We have to leave him."

"We should..." Alenia began to protest but faltered. It was easier to simply believe the chief knew what she was doing. If the Alliance questioned her about it would at least fall on Ashley's shoulders. Although, considering the situation, she wouldn't hesitate to defend the chief in a court martial.

Muffled noises and hisses filled the air. The abrupt firefight had disturbed the remaining aliens in the room. Both women fantically scanned the walls with their flashlights to see a dozen full sized aliens crawling down the walls. Many of them seemed to be looking directly at them.

"What's our plan?" asked Alenia. She waved her pistol around unsure of which target to focus on.

"Fight," stated Ashley in a smooth tone. Gripping the rifle tightly, she began firing at the closest target. Alenia followed suit putting her biotic powers to good use.

The aliens descended upon them attacking with ferocious tenacity. Two of them charged Ashley at once. The first went in swiping its tail trying to sting her with the wicked looking barb on the end. Instead it only recieved several high velocity rounds to the face. The second leapt into the air preparing to tackle her. Ashley rolled across the ground dodging the attack. Spinning on her heels she managed to put the alien down with the rifle.

Alenia was holding her own. She managed to capture three of the creatures in a singularity. They screeched in anguish as their bodies twisted around the sphere of dark energy. Another alien rushed her but a few carefully placed shots to the head brought it down. Spotting two more running at her; Alenia smashed them with a biotic slam.

"I have the bomb with me," mentioned Alenia while killing another alien.

"Good work," said Ashley. "I think we can get to the engine room from here."

Ashley led the way toward a large set of doors on the opposite side of the room. Most ships had the same basic layout. The hangar usually wasn't far from engineering. Reaching the door she half expected to come across a hack module. Instead the doors appeared to have been forced open. The alien residue continued inside covering the wide passageway. Unfortunately, the whole passage was littered with eggs. Around fifty or so sat scattered around the floor. Each had an omnious aura about them.

Seeing them gave Alenia a cold shiver. She asked, "Can't we find another way?"

"Maybe, but I'm not willing to go running around the ship looking for another door," muttered Ashley. She wasn't eager to go in either. Especially after seeing how hard it was to hit just one of those crab bastards. "C'mon, stay close to me and don't touch anything."

Alenia hovered close to the chief keeping one hand on her shoulder. They proceeded carefully trying not to brush against the eggs. Neither were sure if touching the eggs activated them but they weren't taking any chances. Tip-toeing to the end of the passageway they came upon a disturbing sight.

"Oh shit," whispered Ashley raising her assault rifle.

Alenia gasped, "By the Goddess."

A large 'queen' alien sat in the middle of the engineering deck. Its large body seemed suspended by several long arms of thick residue. Its large body easily towered over them having the same sinister dark exoskeleton as its minions. The queen sat on the tip of an enormous sac which seemed to be producing the eggs in the passageway. The queen's heavy breathing was clearly audible. Its jaws were lined with sharp dagger-like teeth. Once it realized intruders were in its lair; the queen let out a menacing hiss.

"W-what... what d-do we, do now?" stammered Alenia barely able to contain her fear.

"Give me the bomb," said Ashley without taking her eyes off the queen.

Alenia unhooked the bomb from her belt and handed it over. "What are you going to do?"

Ashley ignored Alenia and slowly stepped into the engine room. The drive core was just behind the queen. If she could toss the bomb near the drive core then they could just run back to the escape pods.

"No, wait," protested Alenia. She stayed by the passageway not daring to enter the chamber.

The queen's head turned toward Ashley watching her every move. The chief stared back; wary of provoking the looming monster. Edging around the wall Ashley made small steps toward the reactor while keeping her distance from the queen. With one hand she flung the bomb toward the reactor.

It landed with a loud 'clank'. The force of the landing busted apart the wiring holding the grenades together. The explosive discs scattered along the ground in all directions. Disturbed by the noise, the queen let out a deafening scream.

"Fuck," stated Ashley as the queen became increasingly agitated by the intruders.

"What happened?" shouted Alenia.

"I broke the bomb!"

Enraged, the queen detached itself from the sac. Now free, it began whipping its tail around trying to strike Alenia. The asari stayed low moving around to the opposite side of the room. Ashley fired into the queen until the thermal clip on her rifle popped. Switching targets, the queen successfully gashed Ashley across the thigh with its barbed tail.

Falling to the floor Ashley cried out while gripping the wound. Blood trickled down the broken plate of armor covering her thigh. The pain was intense. Standing on it was unthinkable. Alenia rushed over to attend to the chief and saw how serious the wound was.

"Get out of here!" Ashley grit her teeth still holding her leg.

"I didn't come all this way just to let you die," said Alenia desperately trying to pick up Ashley.

What little damage Ashley inflicted on the queen did not seem to phase it. However, acid from a bullet hole on its tail dripped down onto the reactor. Steel sizzled as the acid formed a tiny hole just enough to damage the reactor's integrity. A warning alarm abruptly went off as yellow emergency lights began to flash.

"At least the queen will die with us," grunted Ashley.

The queen moved into position ready to make the kill. It's tail raised up preparing to make one sweeping strike. Just as all seemed lost, the reactor went critical. Pressurized pipes exploded; spewing steam and eezo all over the room. The ship shook violently as the core destabilized. This caused the queen to lose its balance sending it stumbling backward. All of its limbs thrashed around in frustration.

"C'mon!" Alenia grabbed Ashley by the arm hauling her up. "We don't have much time!"

"You're a damned fool," said Ashley. The gash in her leg was deep and nearly impossible to walk on. The distance to the escape pods felt as though they were light years away.

Alenia held Ashley close bracing her as they limped their way back to the hangar. The queen could be heard trying to squeeze its way through the passageway. Glancing back, Alenia saw that the queen was closing in on them. Urging Ashley on she yelled, "Keep going!"

Some of the eggs in the passageway began to open but only after they passed them. There was no time to fight. They had to keep moving. If the aliens didn't kill them, then the explosion from the reactor certainly would. Reaching the hangar, Alenia urged Ashley on. The door she originally came through was far too small for the queen to chase them down.

Halfway across the hangar Ashley's leg gave out. She crumpled to the floor holding her thigh with both hands. Sharp pain darted up and down her leg. "I can't, I just can't."

"Let's go marine!" shouted Alenia hoping to incite Ashley's military bearing. It seemed to work. Ashley cried out, forcing herself to stand up with Alenia's help.

The queen emerged from the passageway. In the wide open space of the hangar it could easily run. After spotting its prey trying to get away, it charged after them. The weight of the queen could be felt by each thud its legs produced in every step.

"It's gaining on us!" screamed Alenia pulling Ashley along. Just a few more yards and they would be safe. Panic and adrenalin pumped through her veins as the door came within a foot.

Finally they made it through the door. Just when Alenia was about to sigh in relief, something ripped Ashley from her arms. The queen had pressed itself against the door reaching inside with one of it's long boney arms snatching Ashley by the foot.

"No!" yelled Ashley as she was dragged back toward the hangar.

Alenia fell to the ground grabbing Ashley by the hands. Pulling back with all of her might she was able to keep the chief from being dragged away. The queen's one arm was evenly matched with the asari's entire body strength. Slowly however, the queen started to win the tug of war.

Giving up was not an option. All of the stress had reached a boiling point with Alenia. Firmly wrapping one arm around Ashley's torso she reached for her pistol with the other. When the queen pulled them out into the open Alenia took aim at the head.

"Let go of her you fucking bitch!" she screamed before emptying the thermal clip into the side of the queen's large head.

It reared up screeching and let go of Ashley. Alenia tossed the pistol aside and hit the queen with a one-handed biotic push knocking the mighty beast over. She shook Ashley's shoulder realizig she had become unconscious during the exchange. Most likely from blood loss.

"They won't have you," whispered Alenia picking the chief up in a fireman's carry. Under the extra weight, her legs burned with exhaustion. All that mattered now was getting to the escape pods. Putting one foot in front of the other she gradually picked up speed until she was jogging through the corridors back the way she came.

Time was running out. Blaring alarms and flashing lights made Alenia disoriented. Going up the stairwells while carrying another person became excrutiating. Quietly she made a promise to herself to start working out when this was over. She kept a weary eye out for any more aliens but encountered none. The ship shook and snapped as the systems overloaded. Support structures fell apart. Some areas of the ship lost atmosphere.

At last Alenia found the passage that held the escape pods. An explosion knocked her off her feet. Ashley tumbled to the ground like a rag doll. Alenia got back up and grabbed Ashley by the ankles dragging her into the pod. This wasn't a time to be gentle. She closed the door before jumping into the pilot's seat. Alenia slammed the launch button with her fist seconds before the Madison blew apart.

A/N: Just one more chapter to go. I moved this to the main Mass Effect catagory because I'm only using the creatures from the Aliens series and not actually including the Aliens' universe.


	6. Chapter 6

Ashley woke up in the medical bay of the Isandlwana. She sat up slowly and looked around the room feeling confused. There wasn't anyone inside except for a lone doctor. The last thing she remembered was being on the Madison about to be devoured by the queen. All of her pain seemed to be gone. Maybe this was just a dream.

"Good to see you finally awake," said Dr Verris. He was an older man with balding grey hair. He walked over to the side of her bed asking, "How are you feeling?"

The question fell on deaf ears. Ashley stared back at him as if he wasn't real. For all she knew she might wake up and still be attached to the wall of the Madison's hangar. The only person who would know would be Alenia. "Where's Alenia? The asari?"

"She's around here somewhere," said Dr Verris. "You seem disoriented."

The door to the medical bay opened revealing Alenia. She walked in carrying a tray of food. Smiling wide she sat the tray in Ashley's lap saying, "I brought you breakfast in bed."

"Thank you," said Ashley with a weak smile. Eyeing the rice and beans on the tray; she realized how hungry she was and began to devour the meal.

"I can probably get you a second tray if you want," giggled Alenia watching the chief eat.

"That won't, be, neccessary," said Ashley with a full mouth. "I must look like a mess."

"No, you're cute as always," said Alenia brushing some of the chief's unkempt hair from her forehead.

Dr Verris took note of Alenia's flirtacious behavior and became uncomfortble. Ashley didn't seem to mind or notice and only continued to chow down. He pulled back a portion of the blanket covering the chief's injured leg. Clearing his throat he explained, "We managed to repair the muscles in your thigh as best as we could. Whatever hit you went deep enough to chip your femur bone."

"Explains why it was so hard to walk on," said Ashley setting the tray aside. The wound was now a thick mess of dried blood and stitches. The whole thigh had a sickly purplish bruish from the tearing of muscle.

"We also treated the burns on your abdomen with a stem-cell jelly. It'll keep your skin from becoming pink and contorted," Verris clarified.

Ashley lifted her shirt seeing a new more neatly wrapped bandage around her stomach. "Thanks doc."

"I gave you some sedatives for the leg. If it starts bothering you again, come let me know. Otherwise, you should be able to walk on it gently," said Verris.

"Where's my uniform? I should go report to the captain and fill him in on what went on," said Ashley.

"Already done," stated Alenia. "I told him everything yesterday but I'm sure he'll want to talk it over with you."

"Yesterday? How long have I been out?"

"Two days," answered Verris. "You were in pretty bad shape. Hell, you almost bled out before we would close up your thigh."

"Just how did we get out of that ship? What happened to the aliens?" Ashley turned to Alenia.

"You're certainly full of questions," Alenia smirked. "You passed out while I was fighting off the big one. The 'mother' alien. Anyway, I ended up having to carry you back to the escape pods. The ship exploded seconds after we got away. The blast damaged our thrusters and the Isandlwana had to pick us up."

Ashley sat there silent for a moment. Laying back down she asked one last question, "How long before we reach the Citadel?"

"We're half a day away," answered Alenia. "Do you want to sleep some more?"

"Not yet, I'd like to go back to the crew's quarters at least," said Ashley moving over to the side of the bed preparing to walk. "I might need some help."

"No problem." Alenia took Ashley by the arm and helped her limp back to their room.

/

Ashley tossed and turned in her bunk. Several hours had passed since waking up in the medical bay. Before laying down she had reported in with Capt Briggs. He hadn't been too happy with the results of the mission. Both of the marines on her team were dead. A cruiser had been destroyed along with the specimens. Briggs approved the detonation of the Madison but blamed Ashley for letting it come to that. What bothered her most was the pain in her leg. The meds had started to wear off.

Getting up, Ashley noted that Alenia was sound asleep in the bunk next to her. Carefully sliding on her blue uniform she started to hobble down to the med-bay. With a slight laugh she said under her breath, "I'm starting to turn into Joker."

Moments later after recieving the sedative, she returned to the crew deck. Sleep was still out of the question. There was too much on her mind. Instead, she went to the port observation room. It was the only designated room for relaxation on the military vessel. The room was a small cramped space with a couch facing a rectangular window. The lights were off which was fine with her. No one was inside which didn't surprise Ashley considering Capt Brigg's all work and no play leadership.

Easing down on the couch Ashley stared out into space. Everytime she gazed upon the stars she thought of Shepard's death. Was he watching over her now? Perhaps awkwardly explaining to Kaiden why he got left behind. Shepard had told her he was agnostic but she believed that he was with God.

"Can't sleep?" asked Alenia walking into the room.

"Not really. My leg is bothering me," said Ashley sitting up. "What are you doing here?"

"I rolled over and saw you weren't there. So I went looking for you." Alenia sat down on the couch then scooted over so they were hip to hip.

"You don't have to look after me," grumbled Ashley.

"I know, I want to," grinned Alenia. Placing a hand on Ashley's shoulder she began to massage the area gently.

This action made Ashley apprehensive at first until her shoulders turned to butter. "You're pretty good at this."

"Fifty years ago I used to be an acolyte for the Consort," said Alenia with some pride.

"How old are you again?" asked Ashley leaning forward to give the asari more access to her back.

"Two hundred and thirty-two. It was just something I did for the experience." Alenia started using both hands and put all of her tricks to good use in loosening up the chief.

"I wish I could live that long," sighed Ashley. For a moment she thought about the way she had treated the asari in the beginning. Raised in a human military family she had always thought of aliens as something to guard against. Working with Liara on the Normandy helped to tone down some of those feelings. Except when Liara made a move for Shepard. "I'm sorry for how I acted. Before the mission started I mean."

"It's okay." A wide smile came to Alenia's face. She continued to kneed the pockets of tension in the chief's back.

"I never thanked you for saving my life. So thank you." Ashley grimaced. Making apologies and showing gratitude was never easy for her. "I doubt I'll ever get a chance to return the favor."

"How about a kiss then?" asked Alenia half jokingly.

Ashley laughed. "I'll give you credit for persistance..."

There was a long awkward moment of silence. Ashley could feel herself blushing as she thought about it. 'She did save my life after all.' Affection was the one thing she had been missing most since Shepard's passing. A kiss from an asari wouldn't kill her. She looked over her shoulder at Alenia who was still lovingly rubbing her back.

Alenia stopped and met her eyes. She leaned forward taking Ashley's chin in her hand. Humans could be so cute when kissing an alien for the first time. Their lips met for a brief moment before parting.

"Not bad," whispered Ashley. She thought it didn't feel any different than kissing a human. If you ignore the whole 'tentacle head' part.

"I'm glad you liked it," said Alenia with a smile, but she wasn't satisfied. She moved in kissing her again, then again and again.

Ashley felt herself relaxing in the arms of the asari. The soft noises of their lips moving together filled the otherwise silent room. The pain and suffering of the nightmare they had just lived through seemed to fade. Hell, maybe it was just the meds but it felt good.

As the kiss intensified their tongues lightly brushed one another. Alenia pressed herself against Ashley gently nudging her to lay down on the couch. Staying on top, Alenia deployed all of the knowledge she learned from her time with Sha'ira. She knew all of the pressure points, sensitive spots, and just how to exploit them. There wasn't a human alive that she couldn't seduce.

Clothes were slowly discarded. Ashley gave into Alenia completely, letting her guide their actions. Her blue skin felt so warm and soft on her own. Arms and legs entagled as they explored each other. Alenia put her forehead to Ashley's and smiled knowingly as they locked eyes.

"Does it hurt?" asked Ashley with a nervous grin.

"Not at all. Just try to relax," whispered Alenia. Mentally, she prepared herself for the joining. Human minds can be difficult sometimes. Soon their thoughts and feelings would meld...

A/N: That's it. I've got another story planned which will make a reference to this one but this is the final chapter of this story. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much I did writing it. Leave a review if you want, if not, no big deal but I like reading them. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.


End file.
